Local Chapters

Start School Later is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit involved at local, state, and national levels to raise awareness about and advocate for safe and healthy school start times.

​We have 94 chapters in 26 states and Washington D.C. working for developmentally appropriate school start times in their communities. We're continuing to grow as more people discover that joining forces is the most likely way to get local districts to set and ensure healthy hours!

We also have coalition partners who may have initiatives and goals that are outside the scope of Start School Later, but are complementary. Our partners are listed here.

Chapters of Start School Later are working to promote awareness and implement positive change at local and state levels while supporting Start School Later's national initiatives.

Support of health and educational researchers and professionals across the United States and beyond

Research and data collection potential on a national scale

Alliances with national advocacy efforts to incorporate sleep health into the national health agenda

Measurable progress as a collective voice for change

Requirements for Local Chapters

One point person to respond to email inquiries on our website

$50 annual membership fee, payable upon joining

A heart for true change and a passion to make a difference

Willingness to participate in occasional conference calls to share ideas and collaborate with other chapter leaders

​If this sounds good to you, fill out our form on this page to get started!

With resources and support from Start School Later, local chapters and partners have been instrumental in achievements including:

Successfully influencing the Seattle Board of Education to start all high schools and all but one middle school to move start times nearly an hour later to 8:45 a.m.

Derailing a Connecticut school board's plan to consider shifting school start times earlier.

Joining forces in Maryland to pass two pieces of landmark legislation: 1) requiring state health officials to conduct a study on delaying school start times and to recommend whether public schools should adopt a policy of start times at 8 a.m. or later., and 2) creating the "Orange Ribbon" certification program for districts running schools at healthy hours.

Uniting several local districts and a private school in Southern Maine to change all of their middle and high schools bell times to 8:30 a.m. or later.

Convincing state education and health organization in Massachusetts to issue position statements supporting later start times.

Influencing all 12 regional superintendents in the Middlesex League (MA) to issue a jointstatement supporting a move to start times between 8-8:30 a.m.

Successfully influencing a local school board in Greenfield, WI to push school start times 20 minutes later.

Successfully influencing Montgomery County MD schools to move high school start times 20 minutes later.

Successfully influencing schools in East Greenwich, RI to commit to a later high school bell time.

Successfully influencing the school district in North Olmsted, OH to reverse a recent change to earlier school start times.

Introducing legislation for later school start times in Virginia, Maine, Maryland, and Massachusetts

Getting local school boards from Maryland to Washington state to create task forces on later school start times

Sponsoring presentations to local parents, teachers, students, school administrators, health officials, and education leaders about sleep and healthy school hours using Start School Later materials

Working with student leaders in Columbia, Missouri to get their local school board to not only stop a move to earlier high school start times but to actually start the high school later.

Working with the Florida American Academy of Pediatrics to endorse starting high schools no earlier than 8 a.m.​

Contact Us To Start a Local Chapter

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What Do You Get for $50?

The minimal annual chapter fee helps cover costs required to to keep things going and provide services to our growing number of chapters, including the cost of maintaining chapter pages on our website and making our national newsletter subscription free to anyone who wishes to access it. By giving you access to the resources we've spent the last four years building and partnering with us on the local, statewide, and Federal level, your $50 annual fee will connect you as part of an established voice for healthy hours. In turn, with our mission to provide education and research on healthy school start times, your group will be actively involved on the cutting edge of research, education, advocacy and legislation

"I also want to thank you for all the assistance and guidance you have provided. The going has been hard, but having expertise, encouragement, and access to data made it possible for our local core to be much more effective than we would have been on our own." - Cindy JatulChapter Leader Start School Later Seattle

"I have found the website to be an invaluable resource for the dissemination of information on our Facebook page, in emails to parents, school board members, the superintendent, legislators, and anyone else who might need education on the matter. My goal has been to raise awareness in our community about the science behind the need for change and ways that these changes are being done successfully in Florida and across the nation."- Kimberly Damron Chapter LeaderStart School Later ​Leon County, FL

"I want to thank you for all the work you do with SSL....In the past I was spending hours re-inventing the wheel gathering the research....the research is here! SSL does a wonderful job keeping the resources and citations."- Gail Karafin, Ed.D., Chapter Leader​Start School Later Pennsylvania

"...[H]aving you in our corner and the breadth of content and support is like no other experience I've ever had."- Tracey Collins, chapter leaderStart School Later Southern Region, Maine

"Thank you for all the support from Start School Later. Your resources were invaluable and your efforts lit the path." - Sheila Starkey-Hahn,Chapter LeaderStart School Later Germantown, TN

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Website design made possible with a grant from the Rubinstein Family Foundation.

For Citations: A page on our website should be referenced as such:Start School Later. (2017). Webpage Title. Retrieved [Month Day Year] from URLi.e.:Start School Later. (2017). What's the Big Deal? Retrieved March 3, 2017 from http://www.startschoollater.net/whats-the-big-deal.html

Start School Later, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to healthy, safe, equitable school hours. ​Start School Later®, StartSchoolLater.net, and the Start School Later logo are trademarks of Start School Later, Inc.